FIGS. 1A and 1B depict air-bearing surface (ABS) and yoke views of a conventional magnetic recording apparatus 10. The magnetic recording apparatus 10 includes a main pole 20, intermediate layer 14, and top gap 16. The main pole 20 resides on the underlayer 12 and includes sidewalls 22 and 24. Below the underlayer 12 may be a leading shield. As can be seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B, portions of the main pole 20 recessed from the ABS in the stripe height direction are wider in the cross track direction than at the ABS.
In order to form the pole 20, a trench is provided in the intermediate layer 14. The magnetic material for the pole 20 is typically grown in the trench. Because the growth may be substantially conformal, the material(s) for the pole may grow in from the sides and bottom of the trench. Where the materials meet, a seam 21 may be formed. In some cases, the seam 21 may be approximately two nanometers wide.
Although the conventional magnetic recording head 10 functions, there are drawbacks. In particular, the conventional magnetic recording head 10 may not perform sufficiently at higher recording densities. The seam 21 may be viewed as analogous to defects in the magnetic material(s) forming the pole 20. The seam 21 thus has a lower magnetic moment than remaining portions of the pole 20. Although the seam 21 is not very wide, at higher recording densities, the seam 21 occupies a larger fraction of the pole 20. Stated differently, the width of the pole 20 shrinks for higher recording densities, but the width of the seam 21 may stay substantially the same. As a result, the magnetization of and magnetic field output by the pole 20 may decrease. Performance of the pole 20 at higher recording densities may, therefore, suffer. Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving the performance of a magnetic recording head.